Berkeley 9, Catawba Ridge 4 in Game 2 to Sweep Class AAAAA D-2 Title

Larry Gamble

HSSR, Photo Editor

Fort Mill - The Berkeley Stags came into Game 2 of the Class AAAAA Division 2 State Title game with a mission. The only thing to stop them was an equally determined Catawba Ridge Copperheads team. The first inning reflected that completely. 

Berkeley, sporting a 10-0 winning streak that got them through the region play and to this game, went to their tried and true small ball game. Head coach for Berkeley, Landy Cox told the HSSR the team took a while to come together but “we had to play small ball, like we always do, that’s what we do. We pitch, we play defense, and we play small ball.”

In the second inning, they got the bats working with a Devon Hogue single to reach first followed by Easton Little sacrifice bunt putting Hogue on second. Bryson Heath singles to move Hogue to third as he gets to first. Brady Proctor bunts and reaches first on an error that scores Hogue and moves Heath to second base. 

Trading an out for a run, Braylend Booker grounds out but gets Heath across the plate giving the Stags a 2-0 lead. They would get Ryan Richardson around the bases for one more run in the third which Catawba would match with Jack Shelnut scoring on a wild pitch before a double play ending the inning.

The Stags bat got to work in the fourth producing 5 runs the Copperheads could not match. Easton Little singled with an RBI plus scored another run on an error. Bryce Olheiser placed a single over the head of the first baseman resulting in two RBI’s. In the fifth, Catawba managed 2 runs but Berkeley also got a run to go up 9-3. The only scoring in the sixth and seventh innings came from Catawba’s Tyler Causey putting a home run ball over the left field fence for the final score 9-4.

After the game, this HSSR reporter interview Catawba head coach Stas Swerdzewski has this to say, “I could not be more prouder of this group… anytime you have to replaced seven (seniors) of their caliber, there are going to be growing pains and some people wrote us off. I’m proud of the guys for staying with it and working hard. We were within two games of accomplishing the mission that every high school program sets out to do.”

When asked about getting to championship series this season when team was just staying above .500 going into the playoffs, coach Cox said, “the key to is getting hot at the right time, and we got hot at the right time.” Winning game two for the Title marked an 11-0 playoff run for the fabulous Stags this season.  

Game 1                  R H E

Berkeley  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 3  

Catawba 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 4 

Game 2               R H E

Berkeley  0 2 1 5 1 0 0 9 12 0

Catawba  0 0 1 0 2 0 1 4 7 3